Sunday, November 30, 2014

This past Sunday we had the graduation and commissioning of the third
group of Marketplace Ministers from the Kitale Friends Church. Let me
clarify to say the host was the Kitale Friends Church, but there were a
total of sixteen churches represented in this group of 36 Marketplace
Ministers. The Friends Church continues to push the Church-based
Business as Mission throughout their denomination while at the same
having open, welcoming arms to Christian business people of all
denominations. We are learning how to do this ministry with multiple churches, because the goal is not just to graduate and commission Marketplace Ministers, but to have the local churches of the Ministers be the sending church, to give ongoing support, discipleship, encouragement, and accountability. The Friends Church saw with this third class that there was beginning to be some suspicion creeping in from other churches, who thought that they might be trying to steal their members. They tried to meet with the pastors, but couldn't get them to turn out. So they asked the Discipling Marketplace Leaders office to have the meeting. We called, and eight of the sixteen pastors showed up. But the room felt quite cold. However by the end of the meeting, they understood what we are doing and that this is for all churches. The Holy Spirit moved and by the end they too were excited about this ministry. They all turned up for the commissioning, including the pastors who didn't come to our meeting, and they promised to do an affirmation and sending of their members from their church. Praise God!

Alexie, on the right; her "sister" Grace next to her.

One of the graduates is Alexie. She comes from Vihiga, which is 135 km from Kitale. She is a member of the Friends Church and when she heard about this class, she just knew she had to come. So each Friday for twelve weeks, she traveled three hours each way by public transport, spending $21 on transport each week, to attend the class. After just a few classes she was sold, and when she heard there was going to be a Training of Trainers session coming up, she signed up. She completed successfully, and despite her self-doubt in her accounting ability, received the highest exam score! She organized 25 businesses people from her church and the surrounding area, and started a class three weeks ago. This woman believes in moving! She is such a dear, precious, godly woman. I am so excited to see how God is going to use her in this ministry.

Churches are engaged and it is spreading! Last week I had two different trainers stop by to talk about areas where they want to start a training. For both of them, I was able to pull up my trainers list (seventy strong now) and connect them with one or two trainers in the geographical area where they desired to go. We connected them and now they can work together to organize business people in their areas! I was also able to start spending time gathering data for the work that has been done in Western Kenya thus far. I put a map together to show where our ToTs are so far, which was fun. They come from six mainline denominations and 28 independent, and are spread across 23 different cities, in three major concentrations in Western Kenya. Only God could do this in two years!

Map of where Discipling Marketplace Leaders Trainers are located

Moffet Weru (center) is the Pastor of Faith Tabernacle International Ministries, Kitale. He is a BA Theology student at ATS, a ToT for Church-based Business as Mission, and he brought eight members of his church to this training. He is now going to launch a training with a couple of other churches in his area who also are Trainers. This is about multiplication and we are seeing happen! This will make the third location in Kitale alone!

We have one more commissioning before I leave on December 15 in Kakamega, and the Africa Gospel Church will have one shortly after I leave.

God is good, all the time; and all the time, God is good...and that is His nature!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Last Tuesday, my class at the Africa Theological Seminary presented their group papers. One of the groups presented splendidly on how charity has hurt Africa and they articulated their position in a way that made this teacher heart proud.

That evening, I received a posting from my former colleague, Jeff Bloem, regarding the organization BandAid putting out a remix of an old song, Do They Know It's Christmas? to raise money for Ebola. The leader for this movement, Bob Geldof, is someone that we discuss in class as an example of how NOT to do aid. He is quoted as saying, "We have to do something, even if it doesn't work." No, Bob. We must use our head as much as our heart and do the right thing. Sometimes helping hurts. And if it hurts, it is not the right thing to do.

So wincing, I went to the website and saw the words of the song. Sigh. Fears were confirmed.

First of all, the title is demeaning. Of course they know it's Christmas. Liberia is a Christian country and all three countries hardest hit by Ebola have Christmas as a public holiday. Secondly, they treat the continent of Africa as a country. It is a continent of 55 countries, 1000 ethnic groups, 2000 languages and dialects, and is geographically bigger than China, the US and Europe combined! Third, the lyrics say of Africa “where nothing ever
grows, no rain or rivers flow” and “where the only water flowing is the
bitter sting of tears.” Wow. So one billion people should just give up and wait for the aid to come. Nothing ever grows. Are you sure, Bob Geldof et al? Never mind that Africa is the world's richest continent in terms of natural resources. Never mind that the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have enough agricultural potential to feed the entire continent of Africa! Fourth, these lyrics:

There’s a world outside your window, and it’s a world of dread and fear

Where a kiss of love can kill you, and there’s death in every tear

And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom.

Death in every tear? The percentage of the population in Liberia with Ebola is 0.2% (Sierra Leone - 0.1%; Guinea - 0.02%). I point this out not to undermine the seriousness of Ebola, but do they have to be so very dramatic and manipulative of the audience? Can they use their brain in this?

There just doesn't seem to be much of an excuse for how insulting this is, especially in this day and age, where it only takes two seconds of a Google search to come up with a more correct view of Africa. I was embarrassed in front of my students for how insulting "my people" are (and yes, all white people apparently are my people) and I had to apologize (again). I encouraged them to get angry and speak out - to let people know that this type of aid is not welcome. We welcome those who want to come alongside those in need but to engage their heart and their head and not damage the image of one billion people in the process.

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you saw my rant about this already. I have copied one of the responses to this song below, because in the midst of my anger, it made me laugh. And it really is better to laugh, because very close behind the laughter is tears, brought on by outrage and the continued misrepresentation and mistreatment of so many - often in the name of Christianity and good intentions.

[From http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/18/7242291/band-aid-30-single]Having watched the video, I have a number of questions. For instance:

Do Bob Geldof & Co. know that 87% of Liberians are Christian, as are substantial minorities in Guinea and Sierra Leone?

If so, why does the song spend so much time asking if they "know it's Christmastime at all"?

How many Africans need to learn about Christmas in order to cure Ebola?

Can learning about other holidays also cure disease?

Could knowing that it's Columbus Day cure malaria?

How can you be so sure?

Well have you run a randomized controlled trial on the anti-viral properties of holiday knowledge?

Why are they singing "it's Christmastime" in early November?

Is it possible that Bob Geldof & Co. are the ones who are
having difficulty pinning down the existence and timing of Christmas?

Did they get their calendar information from the same source that told them that there is "death in every tear" in West Africa?

Shouldn't they know that there is death in, at most, a
fraction of a percentage of all tears, once infection and survival rates
are taken into account?

Why didn't the song's writers feel an obligation to be more accurate in their lyrics?

Because it's art? Really?

Hahahahaha, no really why?

Why did the song's producer respond to measured criticism from a Liberian academic by angrily asking if she wanted people to "sit back and do nothing?"

Is he under the impression that the only available options for
Ebola relief are "produce and market a stereotype-laden pop song that
offends the people it's supposed to be helping" or "do nothing"?

Is anyone else growing increasingly curious about where these guys get their information?

Has anyone told them that Wikipedia is a thing?

Or, you know, Oxfam?

Speaking of which, where is the money from this campaign actually going?

The Band Aid website just says "all
proceeds from the Band Aid 30 competition will be donated to the
intervention and prevention of the spread of Ebola"; doesn't that seem a
little unspecific?

Can't they tell us the actual charity?

Could they give us a hint?

Even if we promised to keep it a secret?

Please?

What is sad is that it is one thing for these artists to be so ignorant and insulting about Africa. But it's quite another to note that this song sold $1.7 million in the first four or five minutes. Does that mean that so many people are really this ignorant? Or maybe they just don't care but want to feel good about doing something? Or maybe they want to care about Ebola but don't really care about the manner that the people dealing with Ebola are cared for?

"The important thing to remember is that compassion is not simply vehement expression of a point of view. The compassionate person has to consider the practical effects of what he is giving." (Theodore Dalrymple, Author Life at the Bottom)

If you want to help in the fight against Ebola and want to give to a ministry that uses its head and heart, consider giving to ICM. Go to www.icmusa.org.

And now, because I believe every blog should have pictures, let me share with you a couple of pictures from yesterday. I had the opportunity to preach at the East Africa Christian Reformed Church of Sande, which is close to Kitale, Kenya. I think this is the first real CRC church that I have visited in Africa (the CRC in Liberia didn't really count since they only said they were CRC because the Reeds were CRC). This church had a pastor who graduated from Calvin Seminary in 1984, they recited the Apostles Creed (in Swahili) and sang songs I knew (except in Swahili :) ). It was great to be with them and we hope to engage them more on Church-based Business as Mission.

A small, rural church who is passionate for Christ!

The leaders of four CRCs in Western Kenya. The pastor of this particular CRC is to the right of me. Two of the pastors in this picture have gone through the ToT for Church-based Business as Mission and we hope they will start training soon.

As a gift for preaching in the Luhya tradition, I am given a live chicken, bananas and a cabbage. Poor thing had to stay tied in my car for a number of hours as I was busy all day, but he survived!

Monday, November 17, 2014

I made it back to Kitale from the US on Tuesday morning at 9:30 am, after a 29 hour trip. I had to begin teaching at 11 am. During the travel, I came down with a cold from my dear husband, despite his best efforts not to give it to me. I was jet-lagged, felt lousy, and exhausted, but started teaching anyway. It was a very full week with the alumni conference here at the seminary, lots of guests, meetings, and lots of catching up to do after being gone for two weeks. On Thursday night, I received a text message telling me that the commissioning service scheduled for that Sunday was going to be pushed back a week. For a moment, I was happy because it meant I had the Sunday off. Ten minutes later I received a text from a pastor of a large church in Eldoret, asking if I would preach and then lead a seminar this Sunday on business as mission and family budgeting, subjects that are passions of mine. I know that I'm leaving Kenya in about a month and opportunities to speak should be taken when they can. What to do.

My dear husband, of course, urged me not to do it. "The time is too short to plan a message and seminar, plus you still have to teach on Friday and Saturday. Your body needs a rest. You need to rest."Dr. Walker, the founder of ATS and a friend and mentor to me, urged me not to do it, telling me over and over again that I need margin in my life and that I need space for quiet. And what did Renita do? She accepted, of course, and began working at each spare moment on her message and presentation. Both men shook their heads.

On Saturday morning, I woke up with a fever, lungs hurting, and voice strained. I was to teach from 8 am - noon. I made it until 11 am with the help of cold medicine but then stopped. And I decided to cancel Sunday, much to the chagrin of the pastor (and myself, to be honest). I spent the day sleeping and hanging my head over a bowl of hot water trying to clear my lungs.

What does this have to do with toilet paper and second marriages? Good question. This week's debate with Michael about my work load was reminiscent of debates I had with Bob. Bob's two biggest complaints about me were that 1. I'm too serious, and 2. I live in "what's next" mode. This week I saw a glimpse of Michael understanding why this was a complaint of Bob's. [So far Michael is very positive about my approach to life. He says very positively, "you get more done than anyone I know in a day!" But I know what that could turn into if I'm not careful.]

It reminded me of the "great debate" that Michael and I had this summer. The toilet paper debate. You see, when I married Bob, I believed that toilet paper should come from the bottom, or point A on the picture. I actually think that Canadians tend to have it come that way. Bob thought it should come from the top, or point B. And we didn't resolve that argument - whoever happened to change the toilet paper would put it his/her way. Over the years, I came to appreciate that having the paper come from the top was more logical (easier to grab), but I don't think I ever told him that. Michael has the toilet paper coming from the bottom - and he is Canadian - go figure. So we had a fun debate about it. In the end, he said that he really doesn't care which way the toilet paper roll is hung. My quick counter was, "if you don't care, then just do it my way." And he agreed. I was pretty surprised; it caused me to pause and reflect on his gracious response. Michael is able to be a stubborn man - he proudly declares that. My name means "firm of purpose" and I too can take pride in being stubborn. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with him - we have great debates on many topics together. So why did he give in on this?

This week a friend, Shirley Hoogstra, posted an article that gave a bit of insight on this. The article was on the scientific finding that lasting relationships depend on two basic traits: kindness and generosity (to read article go here). More specifically it talks about "bids" that partners make for connections - for example, "look at that beautiful bird outside" - the partner can either turn toward this "bid" or turn away from it. The scientist who did this study can predict with 94% certainty whether or not relationships are doomed to fail or be unhappy if the responder turns away from such bids with contempt, criticism or hostility. It describes kindness in one of two ways - either it is a fixed trait, or it is a muscle that can grow stronger with exercise. The article states that one way to practice kindness is to be generous about your partners intentions. Over the twenty months that Michael and I have been together, I have seen him turn toward my "bids" so naturally each time; I have seen him practice kindness and generosity over and over again, so naturally. You might say, but this is still young love - give it time. But at 45 and 49 years old, it is difficult to "pretend" for this long of a period without reality showing. I am so thankful for the kind and generous spirit that Michael has toward me, as well as to so many others. He teaches me about turning toward bids and I hope to exercise my kindness muscle to be ever responsive to him.

And who knows? Maybe I'll start turning the toilet paper the other way.

[Oh, who am I kidding? I can't change. It's not logical to have it come down the back side, to have to reach an extra three inches and bang into the wall! sigh...Sorry, Michael. I'll focus on trying to say "no" more often.]

Monday, November 3, 2014

This week I am back in the US with two colleagues from Kenya, Pastor Charles Keya from the Deliverance Church in Kakamega and Richard Lukuyu from the Friends (Quakers) Church in Kitale. This has been a time of many firsts for them, and it has been fun for me to see those firsts through their eyes.

Leaving Nairobi.

For both of them, it is their first time in the US.

For one of them, it was his first time on a plane.

It was their first sighting of fall, with leaves changing colors.

It was their first Halloween and they tried to understand the meaning of it.

It was their first time change which also seemed strange, as they observed that it was still dark at 8 am and the days seemed shorter than their days in Kenya.

They had their first sighting of snow. They had hoped for enough to make a snowman, but the rest of us were thankful that wish did not come true.

For one, it was his first tasting of cheese (he didn't like it) and butter (which he liked).

For both it was their first taste of asparagus, couscous, salmon, key lime pie, and many other foods. (However, without ugali and chapati, most meals felt lacking without these Kenyan staples.)

It was their first time seeing a pastor preach in a t-shirt (Madison Square Church).

It was a first to see church announcements start and finish in two minutes (in Pastor Charle's church, announcements alone can take an hour; then an hour for preaching and an hour for praise and worship).

They have been able to share about the work of Church-based Business as Mission a few times and the response from those hearing has been very positive and encouraging. There were questions about why this is not in seminaries in the US and that it needs to be accreditated for seminaries throughout the world. We thank God for the positive response and the interest in seeing this work grow in churches.

They will be visiting a number of businesses yet this week, then flying to Texas for a conference for church leaders. We will fly back to Kenya on Sunday. Thanks to all of you who helped to make this trip possible!

Richard, Charles, and I on the bridge in Grand Rapids.

Richard presenting at the Partners Worldwide conference on the Church-based Business as Mission and the impact of this ministry on his church.

Time with old friends and new friends at the Partners Worldwide conference. Former intern, Jeff Bloem, was able to spend time with Richard and Charles, much to their enjoyment.

Mary Katerberg graciously opened her home to Charles and Richard during their stay in Grand Rapids. Thanks, Mary!

Bob Reed

What does it mean to be a "Reed in the Wind?"

From Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey:

The Virtue of Flexibility

Trees look strong compared with the wild reeds in the field. But when the storm comes the trees are uprooted, whereas the wild reeds, while moved back and forth by the wind, remain rooted and are standing up again when the storm has calmed down.

Flexibility is a great virtue. When we cling to our own positions and are not willing to let our hearts be moved back and forth a little by the ideas or actions of others, we may easily be broken. Being like wild reeds does not mean being wishy-washy. It means moving a little with the winds of the time while remaining solidly anchored in the ground. A humorless, intense, opinionated rigidity about current issues might cause these issues to break our spirits and make us bitter people. Let's be flexible while being deeply rooted.

Paying Attention to the Wind

"The wind blows where it wills." That was Jesus, who compared the spirit of God to the wind. The Reeds have followed the Wind from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Monrovia, Liberia, to Accra, Ghana, then to Kitale, Kenya. Now the work of Discipling Marketplace Leaders is spreading through West, East, and Northern Africa, as well as to Central America. Join Renita as she still seeks to understand what it means to be "shaken by the Wind."